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Subgraph announces security conscious OS

Gallery: Subgraph announces security conscious OS

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A Canadian information security firm has announced a new kind of "adversary resistant" operating system designed to minimise network-borne attacks on computer users.

Some key security features of Subgraph OS include TOR-integration, meaning that all network communications are made through the anonymous TOR network alone. The web page for the OS also boasts that it will include built-in full disk encryption, an encrypted email client and firewall.

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There are even precautions in place to limit the ability of malicious files or data formats to compromise other parts of the system. PDF documents, for example, have frequently been used as a springboard for attacks, but Subgraph OS's creators say their software has been designed to combat this by isolating the PDF reader in an application container and restricting network access.

Subgraph founder David Mirza told Wired.co.uk that the operating system is a direct response to the disclosures on intelligence agency spying made by Edward Snowden. "The Snowden revelations really made it clear how hostile the internet is," he said. "I'm not just talking about one sort of adversary, I'm talking about everything. It's very difficult to trust any kind of computing platform."

Although little detail is currently available about how the open source software actually works, Mirza explained that the OS is currently scheduled for release at the end of the summer.

Subgraph joins the Linux-based Tails project as an operating system which takes privacy and security as a priority. However, unlike Tails, Subgraph OS may be run as a permanent, installed OS rather than an operating system which can be booted from a USB drive or CD.

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For tech entrepreneur and security expert Adam Wiggins, taking security-focussed technologies like TOR or encrypted messaging and bundling them together is a no-brainer. "It makes all kinds of sense to me. In fact, as soon as you see it, it seems like this is obviously where operating systems should end up," he said.

Wiggins also pointed out that a security conscious OS would be of potential benefit to people such as journalists working with sensitive material or engineers at technology firms who may be at an unusually high risk of attack, for example.